Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The front page of the Irish Examinertoday includes an article about the dangers of purchasing medications online, including a slimming medicine containing the highly toxic substance, dinitrophenol, or DNP, which was implicated in the death of a young girl in England in recent weeks. Many people make purchases online but when it comes to medication, including slimming aids, it is important to be aware of the risks. The Department of Health and the Health Service Executive should be doing more to raise awareness, including the introduction of an advertising campaign warning people of the risks of purchasing any type of medication online and taking it in the absence of appropriate medical advice. There already has been one death as a result of taking the particular medicine to which I referred and there will likely be more unless people are made aware of the risks. It is an issue that needs to be highlighted.